Dear Editor:
If anyone thinks the Wells Fargo situation is going to have a negative political effect on the mayor going into 2026 ,just forget about it. The logic my soon-to-be friend and former commissioner Moses Todd is using is flawed at the outset.
Think of it this way: how many city employees and elected officials have their own unpaid debts? How many Augusta-Richmond Countians have unpaid debts? If we are to “fire” the mayor based on an alleged unpaid debt, then we must apply the same standard across the board.
And when we do, once the smoke clears and we see all the carnage, or collateral damage that got caught up in such a terrible application, the bright idea will have lost its light. Whatever debt the mayor has with Wells Fargo has nothing to do with his official duties.
Furthermore, if the calls for the dismissal of the mayor are rooted in reverse racism and politics, his dismissal is not going to happen. The mayor has been great at curving through the Augusta community to pitch in for everyone.
Who cares if he took a picture Columbia County Commissioner Doug Duncan and George Bratcher (two Republicans)?
Who cares if Republican state legislators helped get the mayor’s office a vote (the mayoral power to vote does not leave when Mayor Johnson leaves office, rather it goes to whoever the next sitting mayor is and so forth)?
He also worked with the Biden Administration (Democrats) to open doors to more opportunities to struggling parents and persons with challenging backgrounds living in Augusta.
And more importantly, for me, is when the mayor saw that a commissioner was trying to undermine the hard work I put in toward a purpose by bringing in his own crew, the mayor suggested on the floor that that commissioner work with me. In that moment he stood up for a common citizen against the politics of one of the commissioners.
Also, the narrative that the mayor is not accessible could not be further from the truth. The mayor’s office has done a wonderful job at being communicative with me, a common citizen bringing social issues that I would like to see our local government address. Issues that if addressed will benefit the more socioeconomically disadvantaged communities in Augusta.
So let us take a deep breath and look at what Mayor Garnett Johnson has done for All of Augusta. I can tell my fellow formerly-incarcerated peer population that I haven’t seen any of the mayor’s detractors get in the trenches with the prisoners to pick up debris, work with the president’s office to open more opportunities for socioeconomically disadvantaged Augustans, or stand up for a common citizen against a commissioner looking to override the hard work of that common citizen.
Whatever the politics are, I do not care. I am standing with the current mayor. And if you are a person with a criminal history (formerly incarcerated or not), I encourage you to do the same. If you are a common citizen who can’t get in touch with your commissioner except for when the issue fits that commissioner’s political agenda, contact the mayor’s office. I assure you that if the office receives a response from you, it will respond.
Law A. Brannen
Augusta, Ga.
